Conveyer for rolling-mills.



V. E. EDWARDS.

CONVEYER FUR ROLLING MILLS.

APPucATloN m50 Ammo. 1909.

m, .m m@ .W m um Ml G @A N D Q Nv W i d .w f.. n N MM LJ 1 m W mw v n mnbf LQL N Nm NMWN UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR E. EDWARDS, 0F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO MORGAN CON-STRUCTION COMPANY, MASSACHUSETTS.

OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 0F CONVEYER FOBROLLING-MILLS.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

Application led August 10, 1909. Serial No. 512,227.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR E. Enwanns, a citizen of the United States,residmg at lVorcester, `in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Conveyersfor Rolling-Mills, of which the following is a specification,accompanied by drawings forming a part of the same, in which- Figure 1represents a side view of a conveyer embodying my present invention.Fig. 2 is a plan view o a portion of my improved conveyer. Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic view showing a series of overlapping metal. strips andillustrating the operation of the conveyer. Fig. 4 is a longitudinalvertical section of a portion of the conveyer showing two of the guides3 and the adjacent rolls 4.

Similar reference charactersl refer to similar parts in the differentfigures.

My present invention relates to a conveyer for metal bars, designed tobe employed in connection with a metal yrolling mill, and preferably,with a metal cutting shear.

The objects of my invention are to simplify and render more compact thedriving mechanism of the conveyer, and also to secure an overlapping orshingling eect of the metal bars as they are fed upon and transferred bythe conveyer. This conveyer is designed to transfer the metal bars tothe ordinary piling rolls by which the bars are piled preparatory toremoval. In order to accomplish an even and balanced pile slower speedof the piling rolls than of the remainder of the rolling mill isnecessary. And this overlapping or shingling effect of the metal bars isdesigned to reduce sufficiently the speed of the metal bars as they aredelivered from the mill to allow of their convenient handling by thepiling rolls. I accomplish these objects by the construction andarrangement of parts as hereinafter described and pointed out in theannexed claims.

In the accompanying drawing my invention is illustrated in connectionwith a rotary metal cutting shear and a pair of feed rolls, by which themetal to be severed is rejected between the edges of the rotating shearblades. In the preferred embodiment of my present invention, asillustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings and hereinafter described, thecutting mechanism, consisting in the present instance of a rotar?7shear, is made to perform the additional unction of depressing the endof the severed piece below the plane in which the succeeding continuouspiece is fed to the cutting mechamsm.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 denotes a longitudinal tableor frame supported on posts 2, on which are mounted guides `3 and theconve er rolls'4 and 5. The rolls 4 are driven by an independent drivingmechanism and constitute the first section of the conveyer. The rolls 5are driven by a second independent driving mechanism at a lower rate ofspeed and constitute the second section of the conveyer.

The two sections of conveyer rolls are sufficient to illustrate thecharacter of my present invention, but the number of sections can beincreased if desired. The rolls 4 are rotated by their frictionalcontact with the endless belt 6 which passes over a driving pulley 7 andan idler pulley 8. The tension of the belt 6 is maintained by a tihtening pulley 9 journaled in bearings 10 w ich are adjustable alongways 11 by means of a screw 12 and a hand wheel 13. The upper half ofthe belt 6 which is brought into contact with the conveyer rolls 4, asindicated by the broken line 14, is referably supported at intervalsupon anged pulleys l5 which are spaced between the conveyer rolls '4.The driving pulley 7- is carried upon a shaft 16 which is provided witha gear wheel 17 which engages a pinion 18 on the shaft of a motor 19.

The conveyer rolls 5 are similarly driven by an endless belt 2Owhich`passes over a driving pulley 21, an idler pulley 22 and atightening pulley 23, journaled in bearings 24 which are adjustable alonways 25 by a screw 26 and a hand wheel The upper half of the belt 2()which is brought into contact with the conveyer rolls 5, as indicated bythe broken line 28, is preferably supported at intervals upon theflanged pulleys 29 which are supported between the conveyer rolls 5. Thedriving pulley 21 is carried upon a shaft 30 which is provided with agear 31 which engages a pinion 32 on the shaft of a motor 33 arranged todrive the conveyer rolls 5 at a slower speed than that of the conveyerrolls 4. At the receiving end of the conveyer are a pair of feed rollsS4 and 35 by which a continuous strip of metal is fed to the conveyer,.in the present instance, between rotating shear blades 36, 3T, 38 and40. The feed rolls 34 and are rotated by an independent motor 4l bywhich a continuous strip of metal is fed between the rotating shearblades at a longitudinal speed in excess of the speed of the severedpieces as they are moved by the conveyer rolls 4. In place of the feedrolls 34 and 35 the continuous strip may be delivered directly to theshear by the final rolls of the rolling mill.

The continuous strip of metal as fed by the feed rolls 34 and 35 ispresented to the shear in a plane higher that the plane of thesupporting surfaces of the conveyer rolls. The upper shear blades 3G and38 'are rotated in synchronism with the lower shear blades 37 and 40 byany suitable mechanism and at a speed determined by the desired lengthof the severed pieces.

The upper and lower shear blades overlap during each cutting operationwith the rear side of the upper blade, contacting with the front side ofthe lower blade so that the overlapping cutting edge of the upper bladein severing a piece from a continuous strip will crowd the rear end ofthe severed piece downward into a position indicated by the broken line42, Fig. l, and into a plane below the plane in which the continuousstrip is being fed, as indicated by the broken line 43.

The depression of the rear end of the severed piece, accomplished in thepresent instance by means of the upper shear blade, allows the advancingend of the continuous strip as it is projected between the shear bladesto pass over and overlap the rear end of the severed piece due to thedecreased speed of the severed piece as it is moved forward by theconveyor rolls 4, thereby roduoing an overlapping or shingling effect ofthe metal each piece is severed from the continuous strip.

The successive pieces, as they are severed from the continuous strip,overlap each other a distance determined by the difference in speedbetween the continuous strip, as determined by the feed rolls, and thesevered strip, as determined by the conveyer rolls 4. The overlappingpieces pass forward on the conveyer table through the guides 3 and overthe rolls 4 until they pass upon the second section of the conveyertable. As each severed piece moves upon the conveyer rolls 5 its speedis reduced below the Speed of the succeeding pieces which are beingmoved forward by the conveyer rolls 4, causing an increase in theoverlapping or shingling effect between each pair of contiguous piecesas they pass from the first to the second section of the conveyer. Theoverlapping of the severed pieces may be still further increased byadding other sections to the conveyer with the speed of each swceedingsection reduced. The amount of shingling or overlapping is determined bythe difference in speed between the speed of the feeding wil mechanism,which in ordinary cases run at the speed of the rolling mill, and of thepiling rolls which run at the speed necessary to produce a desirablepile; and by the amount of overlapping of the pieces of metal necessaryto reduce their speed sufficiently.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated in diagram the overlapping or shinglingeffect of my improved conveyer, in which the line a represents theadvancing end of a continuous strip just before it is severed at thepoint a. The line b denotes the preceding severed piece with its rearend overlapped by the strip a as shown at b due to the difference inspeed between the feed rolls and the conveyer rolls 4. The line cdenotes the next preceding piece, the rear end of which is overlapped bythe advancing end of the piece b, as denoted at c. The line d denotesthe next preceding piece which is partially moved upon the slower feedrolls while the piece c has been moved forward at a higher speed whichhas increased the amount of overlap between it and the piece d, as shownat d. The line e denotes the next preceding piece with the overlap ofthe piece d still further increased by the difference in the speed ofthe conveyer rolls 4 and 5, as denoted at c.

In the present instance I have shown my improved conveyer as employed inconducting longitudinal severed pieces cut from a continuous strip bymeans of a suitable cutting mechanism, with the first overlap of theseveral pieces accomplished by a difference in speed between the firstconveyer rolls and the feeding mechanism, and having the rear ends ofthe severed pieces depressed below the plane of the continuous strip bythe action of the cutting mechai nism itself, as I thereby simplify themechanism and avoid the introduction of independent means fordepressingr the severed piece. I do not confine myself, however, to theemployment of a shear for depressing the end of the severed strip as Icontemplate the use of a conveyer with severed strips which aresuccessively fed to the first sectionA of the conveyer by a suitablefeeding mechanism. Furthermore, it will be apparent that the abovedescribed shingling effeet may be obtained by elevating the forward edgeof a severed strip above the plane of the preceding strip which ispassing onto the conveyer rolls.

I claim,

1. A conveyer for rolling mills, comprising a series of rotatingconveyer rolls arranged in separate sections, with a multi plicity ofrolls in each section, means for rotating the rolls in each section at auniform speed, but at a lower speed than the rolls of the next precedingsection, and a series of guides for conducting the metal across saidsections.

2. A conveyer for rolling mills having a series of rotating conveyerrolls, a feeding mechanism arranged to feed metal to said conveyer rollsin a plane above the plane o1 the supporting surfaces of said rolls,means for actuating said feeding mechanism, and means for actuatin saidconveyer rolls at a lower speed than t e speed of said feedingmechanism.

3. A convey'er for rolling mills, comprising a series of rotatingconveyer rolls arranged in sections, with a multiplicity ot' rolls ineach section, means for rotating the rolls in each section at a uniformspeed, but at a lower speed than the rolls of the next precedingsection, guides for conducting the metal from one section to another,and means for feeding the metal to the receiving end of the conveyer ata higher speed than the speed of the first section of conveyer rolls.

4. A conveyer for rolling mills, having a series of rotating conveyerrolls, means for rotating said rolls, a pair of rolls at the receivingend of said conveyer for feeding successive strips of metal to saidconveyer rolls, and means for rotating said pair of rolls at a higherperipheral speed than the peripheral speed of said conveyer rolls.

5. A conveyer for rolling mills, comprising a series of conveyer rolls,means for rotating said rolls at a uniform speed, and means for feedingsuccessive strips of metal to said rolls in a plane above the supportingsurface of the rolls and at a higher speed than the peripheral speed ofthe rolls.

(i. A conveyer for rolling mills, having a series of rotating conveverrolls divided into sections, and a feeding mechanism arranged to feedmetal to the first of said sections in a plane above the plane of saidfirst of said sections and at a speed greater than the speed of saidfirst of said sections.

T. A conveyer for rolling mills, having a series of rotating conveyorrolls divided into sections, a feeding mechanism arranged to feed metalto the first of said sections in a plane above the plane of said firstof said sections and at a` speed greater than the speed of said first ofsaid sections, and means for rotating the rolls of each successivesection at a lower rate of speed.

8. A conveyer for rolling mills, having a series of rotating rollsdivided into sections, means for rotating each section independently ata single rate of speed, said rotating means arranged to drive successivesections each at a slower rate of speed, and feeding means arranged tofeed pieces of metal to said conveyer on a plane above the plane of theconveyer and at a higher rate of speed than the fastest of saidsections.

9. A conveyer for rolling mills, comprising means for succesivelyfeeding separate strips of metal in a single plane, and means forcontinuing the forward movement of said strips below said plane and at areduced speed.

Dated this sixth day of August, 1909.

VICTOR E. EDXVARDS. lrVitnesses:

WV. A. WENN, GEORGE H. Tarrr.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,179,510, grantedApril IS, 1916,

upon the application of Victor E. Edwards, of Worcester, Massachusetts,for :in

improvement in "Conveyers for Rolling-Mills," errors appear in theprinted specifi cation requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 16,for the Word that" read than; same page, line 107, for the word severaVread severed; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thesecorrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 23d day of May, A. D., 1916.

[SEAL] J. T. NEWTON,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. Cl. 193-1.

